Mythbusters

I've been rolling this around the ol' lab-brain for a bit. Just wondering if anyone else around here is interested. I am a big fan of this show, and it seems like it's the sort of thing that lends itself to the homebrewing community. I also watch it with my daughter and it's great because it's entertaining for me, has no violence(except for poor Buster) or swearing, and the science is somewhat educational for her.

I've seen the show mentioned around some other threads, but have not yet seen a thread dedicated to the show. What's your favorite experiment? I'm watching exploding pants right now.

I'm thinking that the sort of rogue personality that lead you to homebrewing also makes you a fan of this show.

Anyone else?

[I'm a big fan....My favorite episodes are those where Adam and Jaime decide to compete against each other to prove something, and they talk trash...

Though the one where they tried to hook up the rocket motor on buster on a swingset to get a 360 degree swing was funny..heck any buster busting is a hoot.

Here's some outtakes...

[YOUTUBE]Ab2rVT9qgjw[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]ist0gWQeNIc[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]Zx7NC4vAnEY[/YOUTUBE]

I like the one where they cooled down a beer in like 5 minutes by using salt and ice instead of just ice. I did this during my last attempt at an ice bath to cool my wort but I think I needed to add my salt to the ice before I put it in the sink because I didn't notice a difference.

I enjoy it a lot, but HWMBO has a tendency to fall asleep halfway through(he likes to go to bed early) so when we're flipping through channels and there's reruns of the episodes that he hasn't seen yet, he makes me rewatch the entire thing.

I have such a mad crush on Kari Byron that it's not even funny.

I liked the one where they attempted to determine if dropping a penny from the top of the Empire State Building could actually kill someone. To do this, they rigged up a penny gun and shot pennies at each other. Pretty funny.

the_bird said:

I have such a mad crush on Kari Byron that it's not even funny.

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QFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and don't forget kari... mmmmmmm

[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=4NsuIdnLGlc[/ame]

edit: I see we haven't

the_bird said:

I have such a mad crush on Kari Byron that it's not even funny.

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I saw her first!

I do love the show. It is hard to say what my favorite experiment is, but I really enjoyed the recent water heater rocket one.


TL

the_bird said:

I have such a mad crush on Kari Byron that it's not even funny.

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I almost mentioned it in the OP, but yeah, she is HOT.

Do pretty girls fart?

[YOUTUBE]l7-w8woM5Fc[/YOUTUBE]

The earlier Mythbusters were, in my opinion, better than the more recent.

I think they were less inclined to narrowly define the myth and then call it busted after their one feeble attempt to test it. I'd rather see more 'improbable' or even 'inconclusive' ends to their myth tests an less declarations of busted or not.

I guess I felt like initially they were teaching people, especially kids, good critical thinking. Over time it seems like they've polished their production and, as a part of that, they have lost a lot of the educational value they used to provide in an effort to blow more stuff up and make absolute statements about things based on tests they know full well didn't really test the myth.

kornkob said:

The earlier Mythbusters were, in my opinion, better than the more recent.

I think they were less inclined to narrowly define the myth and then call it busted after their one feeble attempt to test it. I'd rather see more 'improbable' or even 'inconclusive' ends to their myth tests an less declarations of busted or not.

I guess I felt like initially they were teaching people, especially kids, good critical thinking. Over time it seems like they've polished their production and, as a part of that, they have lost a lot of the educational value they used to provide in an effort to blow more stuff up and make absolute statements about things based on tests they know full well didn't really test the myth.

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Fair statement, fair statement, and I tend to agree with you on a purely educational/scientific level. In entertainment, everything gets suckier when it's popular, too many cooks in the kitchen, too many peeps to please. Although I would say that the show is still better than the 'copycat' versions that now exist(I'm looking at you, Smashlab). The best part of the show is really the interaction between Jamie and Adam, that's what I really enjoy the most. Those guys really crack me up.

The one where they tested the effectiveness of beer cooling methods was one of my favorites. For some reason, I was completely sold on the 'putting the beer in the sand, pouring kerosene on it, and lighting it on fire' method. Plus, Kari had a hot half shirt on.

the_bird said:

Do pretty girls fart?

[YOUTUBE]l7-w8woM5Fc[/YOUTUBE]

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Dammit Bird, you beat me to it!

I can't watch Smashlab. Complete ripoff. Lame.

I'm also watching the show mostly for the entertainment aspect. I mean, they get the science BASICALLY right, but that's not really the point. These are guys that you just KNOW would be a blast to hang out with. Some of the REALLY old shows, before they brought aboard Kari, Tory, and Grant, were kind of awkward.

There's a good interview with Adam on TheSneeze (the site that also features information on how to make pruno). Definately worth reading if you're a fan.

You know what other show I used to love that I just found again? Any other "Junkyard Wars" fans? That show was freakin' awesome. If I could have a cable channel that showed nothing but Junkyard Wars, Mythbusters, and old episodes of Battlebots... well, I'd be happy for a couple of days at least.

the_bird said:

You know what other show I used to love that I just found again? Any other "Junkyard Wars" fans? That show was freakin' awesome. If I could have a cable channel that showed nothing but Junkyard Wars, Mythbusters, and old episodes of Battlebots... well, I'd be happy for a couple of days at least.

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bless YEAH! :rockin:

Junkyard Wars rocked! I loved watching them make something out of all that crap......of course you knew it was a pretty well stocked "junk" yard but still it was cool.

I loved watching them drive around on those crazy golfcarts...

Alamo_Beer said:

bless YEAH! :rockin:

Junkyard Wars rocked! I loved watching them make something out of all that crap......of course you knew it was a pretty well stocked "junk" yard but still it was cool.

I loved watching them drive around on those crazy golfcarts...

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I used to crush on Cathy Rogers, from the British version of the show ("Scrapheap Challenge").

How can ya go wrong?

TexLaw said:

I saw her first!

I do love the show. It is hard to say what my favorite experiment is, but I really enjoyed the recent water heater rocket one.


TL

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I could not believe what that water heater did to that little shack. Imagine if something like that happened at your house (and I've heard it has happened in homes before). Who would have thought your water heater could do more than burn you?

I haven't seen Junkyard wars in SO long! Is it on any channel anymore? I'd love to watch old episodes of this.

Now that http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_mythbusters_interview.php is a really good interview if you like the show.

I also really like the one where they see if you can fold a piece of paper more than 7(?) times. It's obviously busted at the 8.5x11 scale, but they get an airplane hanger and try it will a massive sheet of paper.

I also love the connections. Apparently Grant was Battlebots champ, and Tory worked at ILM with Adam.

Laurel said:

I haven't seen Junkyard wars in SO long! Is it on any channel anymore? I'd love to watch old episodes of this.

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There's some Science channel that we started getting when we got digital cable recently, it's on there a couple nights a week.

Laurel said:

I haven't seen Junkyard wars in SO long! Is it on any channel anymore? I'd love to watch old episodes of this.

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Laurel, you are money. Throw your hat in the ring!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=52316

blacklab said:

I also love the connections. Apparently Grant was Battlebots champ, and Tory worked at ILM with Adam.

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Deadblow!



I swear I've seen footage of Adam and Jamie with a Battlebot, but I can't find it anywhere...

EDIT: Apparently, Jamie made "Blendo"

blacklab said:

Laurel, you are money. Throw your hat in the ring!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=52316

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Laurel, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

You are trying to access a webpage that is only accessible to Premium Members.
You trying to edit someone else's post or access administrative features
You did not activate your account. To do so please follow the instructions at the following webpage; Request Activation E-mail

Uh..... Blacklab....

FIGHT CLUB!

hmm. you guys ever heard of apfelwein with a meat addition?

b/c that's what we usually talk about in the FIGHT CLUB.

The boys selling out:

http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2007/06/powers_of_small.php

blacklab said:

Plus, Kari had a hot half shirt on.

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Kari..Hubba Hubba

I'm also a MythBusters fan. Their methods are sometimes less scientific than they'd like you to believe, and I occasionally get frustrated when I can clearly see another avenue of approach, but they stick to a single, grandiose idea that doesn't pan out in the end. Adam's "characters" are probably the worst, though. Overall, I really enjoy the show, and if it's a mediocre episode, there's always the KB eye candy.

Smash Lab is ok, but they get a little too extreme with their ideas. Almost nothing they've done is practical, except MAYBE the earthquake-proofing.

Junkyard Wars rocked! Finding brand new aircraft props in a junkyard is pretty far-fetched, but so what? It was a fun show.

Yuri_Rage said:

I occasionally get frustrated when I can clearly see another avenue of approach, but they stick to a single, grandiose idea that doesn't pan out in the end.

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Exactly. And it really gets irritating when they follow up that crappy, poorly executed avenue of approach by declaring the myth busted.

Yuri_Rage said:

Junkyard Wars rocked! Finding brand new aircraft props in a junkyard is pretty far-fetched, but so what? It was a fun show.

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It was a little disconcerting sometimes seeing them find those awesome item that is just what they needed-- like brand new rocket engines or a roll of mylar in the 'junkyard' but that's why the original title 'scrapheap' makes more sense to me.

JYW was another one that started to come off the rails after teh producers started tweaking it. In the beginning the 'experts' were more or less assistants to the team. They broght Ideas and expertise but didn't try to force a particualr project. This means that often the teams came up with very similar designs-- usually there is one design that is superior in rough engineering. Later in the series the experts were clearly chosen to drive a particular design through so that the teams came up with different solutions.

Obviously, I liked the story when it was about a group of people working together to achieve a goal using a strategy mutually agreed upon.

This is absolutely my favorite show - hands down! I have my son addicted to it as well.

Brad

I hate that damn show!!!. The Cell phone and the airplane one I about blew a blood vein.. It would be a good show if they had people with half a brain on there. I really hate that show and my roommate always watches it, so I have to watch their BS.

kornkob said:

JYW was another one that started to come off the rails after teh producers started tweaking it. In the beginning the 'experts' were more or less assistants to the team. They brought Ideas and expertise but didn't try to force a particualr project. This means that often the teams came up with very similar designs-- usually there is one design that is superior in rough engineering. Later in the series the experts were clearly chosen to drive a particular design through so that the teams came up with different solutions.

Obviously, I liked the story when it was about a group of people working together to achieve a goal using a strategy mutually agreed upon.

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I almost posted something very similar. JYW "jumped the shark" when it gained popularity and they tried to take the show in different directions. Leave a good thing alone!

This comic sums up my feelings on complaints about Mythbusters' scientific rigor:


It's not perfect, but it's miles ahead of most other shows.

blacklab said:

the show is still better than the 'copycat' versions that now exist(I'm looking at you, Smashlab). The best part of the show is really the interaction between Jamie and Adam, that's what I really enjoy the most. Those guys really crack me up.

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Adam, Jamie, and the whole cast. Mythbusters is still 10x better than the #2 clone.

I've seen them all 2x, how did I miss the "Pretty girls fart" episode?

Great show! Kari is hot, but what about Scottie??? She can weld too!!!!

Very nice, GeorgeH. I popped in to post the same thing, but you beat me to it.

I love the episode they put a rocket on the Impala and then built a ramp- The rocket explodes on takeoff! That was awesome

pldoolittle said:

I've seen them all 2x, how did I miss the "Pretty girls fart" episode?

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They never aired it; it looks like that was shown as an outtake at some Mythbusters con.